Business

23May2012

Pictured are the WIT Graduate Business Class of 2011

With unemployment in the South East persistently higher than the rest of the country, 18.2% against a national average of 14.3%; we sought out graduates who received their parchment five months ago to see how they fared. A very satisfying 95% of those who completed graduate programmes at WIT School of Business are now employed. Included in that 95%, is 3% of graduates who are travelling and working and a further 9% of graduates who are working whilst continuing their studies or have taken paid research masters/PhDs. So after graduating five months ago, 5% are still seeking work.

In their responses a little over 80% of graduates indicated that they had been recruited before graduation. Indeed, the main impact of the recession seems to have been to make graduates more conservative in their choices after graduation, and a good deal less likely to travel speculatively according to Dr Ray Griffin, who carried out the research on behalf of the Graduate Business Department in WIT and who is the programme director for the MSc in Business, Innovation, Technology and Entrepreneurship, WIT School of Business.

“Measuring and reporting on our impact on student’s lives is just one of the ways in which graduate education at WIT is different writes”, Dr Griffin. He continues: “Our hard won reputation is hewn from the success of our graduates. Our broad thinking was to create exceptionally successful graduates who make an impact immediately on joining firms such as PWC, E&Y, Bausch & Lomb, Glanbia, BNY Mellon, State Street, Goldman Sachs, and Google amongst others, as well as across hundreds of organisations across the south east and beyond.

We have cautiously built out a full portfolio in executive (Higher Diploma, MBA, DBA), taught (with MBS programmes in Accounting, Economics & Finance, Internationalisation, Management, Marketing, HRM) in entrepreneurship (SEEPP/New Frontiers in association with IT Carlow), conversion into business (MSc in Business, Innovation, Technology and Entrepreneurship-mBITE) and in research (with a vibrant MBS by research, PhD and Post-Doc community)”.

New for this year are two specialist programmes that respond to specific employment opportunities- an MSc in Global Financial Information Systems and a Postgraduate Diploma in Lean Practice, both of which along with the mBITE and Higher Diploma in Business are eligible for the Springboard scheme.

At WIT Graduate Business, we put enormous effort into developing our students, and our recent survey of the class of 2011 shows they are enjoying a strong return on investment. We focus on rounding our students off as knowledgeable, thoughtful, hardworking, presentable, effective employees who make a positive impact from day one, and continue to make an impact over a long career. Every student takes an international study tour, we lure in great visiting speakers, deploy the latest technology and teaching methods- all to make sure we are impressive in front of people who have participated in education for around 19 years before they reach our door.

Dr Denis Harrington Head of Graduate Business, comments, “this survey that we commissioned again shows that employers value the kinds of innovation that we are pioneering here in our business school in WIT. For example all of our graduate programmes now incorporate an international study programme which strengthens WIT’s international network of elite relationships, whilst also positioning our graduates to take advantage of the internationalised dimension of Irish business and entrepreneurial opportunities.

With another European question set to go before the Irish people this year, there is no doubt regarding the continuing importance of the international dimension of education and business for Irish students. Equally our MBA programme incorporates a series of professional development workshops and career seminars and our School co-ordinates one of the largest business seminar programmes for graduates in the country. These initiatives are paying dividends and our graduates are entering the workplace more professionally aware, and capable of making the types of contributions that are valued in an increasingly challenging business environment”.